Yes, LT150 have better picture (contrast and blacks) but its color is comparable to my Sony. I saw a LT150 at the hospital I work and love the image, but I also saw rainbows galore and it's noisy (a high pitch whine from the color wheel when sitting close). Dell's deal is unique but even at $2500, it's a great projector; however, you do take a chance at rainbows (50/50 chances that you may see them) which may interfere with your movie enjoying experience and its bulb cost is ridiculous ($500 for 1000 hour max. which means it may be even less and brightness may decrease over time). Its noise will bother me as mine is right over my head and it may interfere with movie soundtrack--hushbox or further placement is important (except the throw of LT150 is very short which negates placement further back in the room). The Sony has 1.3 zoom so placement is less critical (you can down or up size the image to fit your screen) where as the LT150 has to be moved to fit the screen. I have small children (3) and putting it on the coffee table is too risky (spills, falls). The LT150 is very hot to touch and the Sony is only warm to touch at its exhaust. This may heat up your room in those warm summer nights. NEC has good warranty too but only 2 years compared to 3 of Sony's. DLP units will have more noise due to the spinning color wheel in addition to the fan(s). Like any spinning product (like a fan) its motor may go bad (off-centered causing more noise or distortions in picture or dead altogether)--I'm sure we've all had an old fan that died or makes loud racket. Sony has a better deinterlacer built-in than LT150 as my VHS (not SVHS) via composite looks pretty good too. Cable TV through VCR is very watchable through composite. If you have SVHS VCR and S-video I bet it'll even be better. This unit is digital TV compatible meaning it'll automatically reset itself to 16:9 if digital TV via RCA DTC-100 is inputed into VGA input. Yes, there are lots of better projectors but most will cost more unless you find a "DELL's deal" or Ebay. The problem with Ebay is your warranty may be a hassle as it's through the original buyer. The weakness of this unit is there may be dead pixel(s) problem but Sony will fix/replace if it's within the 16:9 viewing field even if it's just one (no 1-5 pixels being acceptable crap like with LCD laptops). Unfortunately this is a problem of all LCD units (even the gold standard, expensive DILA). Even DLP units can have dead mirrors (pixels) as it's part of the production risks and technology. Just find a company that'll fix dead pixels; I mean if you're going to pay $2000+ you'd want perfection, right? I would go with a Hi-power Dalite Model B which will allow more ambient light during viewing. I just spent too much time on my DIY screen to pitch it--plus I'm too cheap
. Sony has a good reputation with 400Q and WH10T so I think their projectors are good (especially for HT applications). Infocus LP425z may only be $1300 but after a couple of bulbs ($400 for 1000 hr. and metal halide is the older bulb which will dim quite a bit after a while) it'll even out the cost of the Sony. I think the price of VPL-CX1 will continue to fall (probably to $1500 in 3 months) as CX2 (750 lumens) and CX3 (1000 lumens) are out. Just remember, the longer you wait the less time you have to enjoy movies
The best thing is to buy from people that'll let you return it if you don't like it. It's like buying a car, you need to test drive it.
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Huey ;-]
